by Lacy Hart
The car seemed to drive itself over to the Homestead. Since it was only nearly 4 PM, there wasn’t much going on in there. Lunch was long over, and dinner had yet to start. I parked in the parking lot and Abby, and I hopped out. Abby raced to the front door and through, excited to go see her grandmother and let her know about the house. I, on the other hand, had other things I needed to find out about.
When I got through the front door, I saw Abby standing over at the bar talking to Mom. I strode over, feeling a mix of anger, confusion, and excitement. Abby was going a mile a minute about the house and how great it was while Mom was just nodding along. I stood behind Abby and waited for her to finish rambling on. When she finally paused, Mom looked up at me and saw I had a serious look on my face.
“Hey Abs, why don’t you go to the kitchen and see if Henry needs any help with some prep work,” she said to Abby calmly.
Abby looked at me, and that back at my mother, and saw we needed to talk.
“Sure Grandma,” she said cautiously and walked over through the swinging doors into the kitchen. Mom got back behind the bar and was straightening things up.
“What’s wrong, Travis?” she said to me as she put glassware away. “You have that look on your face you used to get when you were young, and something was troubling you. Everything alright at the house? Abby seemed to think so.”
I sat on one of the stools and talked as Mom kept cleaning.
“The house was fine. The outside needs some work, but the inside was, well, perfect. It looked like the maids had just come through and cleaned the whole thing.”
Mom turned and faced me with a stunned look.
“Really? Your father’s house? That man never cleaned a damn thing when he lived with us.”
“I remember. It was pretty puzzling. The place was spotless. No food in the fridge, the beds were made, no dust, the floor was clean. It was like someone was expecting Dad to come home at any minute.”
Mom poured me a beer from the tap and passed it over to me. I took a long sip of the cold red ale she gave me. It felt great going down after a long day.
“There were some other puzzling things too,” I told her. “Did you know Dad had an insurance policy? And a ton of money in the bank?” I explained what Irv Rogers had told me and Mom couldn’t believe it.
“That cheap weasel,” she said as she reached over, grabbed a shot glass, and poured herself a shot of whiskey and downed it. “All this time he could have afforded to live comfortably on his own. I guess he got the last laugh.”
I then took the letter that Dad had written me and passed it over to her so she could read it. She slipped her reading glasses on and read the letter a few times. She looked over at me and could see I was feeling guilty.
“Travis,” she said as she took my hand, “don’t feel guilty about the way things played out. Your father chose his path in life, and you chose yours. He could have reached out to you at any time, but he didn’t. Goodness knows he had his faults – lots of them – but deep down I know he loved you and was proud of you. He was just too stubborn to ever say it to you.”
“Well I was too stubborn to ever come and see him,” I said as I took another long sip of beer.
“You had to live your life, Travis. For you and for Abby. He didn’t know you were taking care of her on your own. Hell, we lived in the same small town together for years, and I never ran into him more than once or twice from the time you left until the day he died. He never said one word to me either. He’d tip that ratty old hat he always wore to me and just walk on by.”
I had forgotten about the ratty old hat. Dad always wore this tweed cap around town. It always looked out of place on him, but he loved it. It had lasted forever, but now that Mom mentioned it, I hadn’t seen it in the house. It was then I remembered the picture.
“I also found this in the truck he had in the garage,” I said to her as I handed her the picture.
“Your father had a truck?” she said loudly, causing the waitresses setting the tables for dinner to turn around and take a look at her. “Why did he have a truck?” she asked me. “He never drove anywhere.”
Mom took a close look at the picture.
“That’s Emma Winters,” she said to me without batting an eye.
“Who is that? ” I asked her. She continued to study the picture a bit longer before she looked up at me and handed it back to me.
“That’s the waitress who worked here that night…” she paused then restarted, “It’s who I caught your father fooling around with in the back room,” she said abruptly.
“Wasn’t she about my age?” I asked her.
“She was little older than you,” she said to me as she took the picture and looked at it again. “She was nineteen when she was working here. Out of high school, didn’t go to college and wanted a full-time job. She was a very pretty girl, smart, funny and a great waitress. I really liked her. Apparently, your father did too. I had no idea he kept seeing her. I’ve seen her around town, but not much. I think she was working a few towns over now, in Sterling. This looks like it was taken just a few months ago.”
“Do you think,” I hesitated a bit before finishing the thought. “Do you think the girl was Dad’s?”
Mom looked hard at the picture again. “I guess she could be,” she said to me. “She looks about Abby’s age. That would mean it was about two years after you left here, so your father was about forty. It sure could be his daughter. There is a bit of a resemblance in the face.”
Now I had even more to consider. Dad led this secret life, and I had a half-sister out there somewhere the same age as my daughter. I finished my beer and rubbed my forehead with my hand.
“This is a lot for you to take in one day, I know Travis,” Mom said to me calmly.
“Oh, wait, there’s more,” I said to her.
“What else could there be?” she said throwing her arms up in the air. “It’s not enough to drop all this, but on top of your stuff I have had two of my bartenders up and quit today. Seems as though they ran off with each other last night and I am left high and dry for a bartender on a Friday night.”
“Can I finish before we get to your bartender soap opera?” I said, cutting her off.
“Go ahead,” Mom said as she leaned herself against the back of the bar.
“Abby showed me a picture she took with you last night here at the restaurant,” I said to her.
“Yes, one of the waitresses took it for us with her phone. What about it?”
“She showed it to me today. I saw Sophie sitting behind you in the picture. Is she in town?”
Mom smiled at me and leaned forward. “As a matter of fact she is,” she said to me coyly.
“Is she just visiting someone? Her mother maybe?” I was sitting there waiting with anticipation. Mom came around from behind the bar and stood next to me as I sat on the stool.
“Ruth Ingram moved out of Canon years ago,” she said to me. “No, she isn’t visiting anyone. Sophie is the eighth-grade English teacher here. She has been for years.”
I was stunned. “And you never bothered to share this information with me before?”
“You could have come to town anytime you wanted to Travis and found out for yourself. You’re the one that stayed away. You never asked me about her, so I figured you weren’t interested.”
I didn’t know what to say next.
“Is she… is she seeing anyone?” I said, sounding like I was back in high school now.
“Sophie? Now let me think,” she said as she brought her right hand up to her chin, stroking it like she was studying a painting to figure out what it meant. “Pretty girl like that, you’d have to think she was seeing someone, wouldn’t you?” I knew she was just messing with me at this point.
“Can you just answer me, please?” I begged her.
“Honestly, I don’t see her that much. But when I do see her, she is never with a man.” Mom wiped the bar a bit with her dishrag.
My mind was rac
ing again with all the information it was processing. Dad, Emma Winters, this girl, the house, what to do with Abby, my life and career, and now, Sophie. I wasn’t sure I could take much more.
“Now that I have answered your questions,” Mom mentioned, “ Perhaps you can help me out with something.”
“Sure Mom,” I told her as I stood up from the bar stool.
“I need a bartender for tonight,” she said as she handed me an apron and the dishrag.
“Mom, you don’t want me behind the bar,” I said, handing the items back to her.
“Why not?” she said to me. “You used to bartend before you got certified as a fireman. Even then you always bartended their parties and fundraisers. You could do it with your eyes closed. Besides,” she said with a smile, “you owe me at least this one.”
It was hard to argue with that, but I was still reluctant to do it. Mom could see the resistance on my face.
“You never know,” she said to me in a sing-song voice as she started to walk towards the kitchen. “Sophie may come back in tonight,” she turned to face me as she bumped the swinging door to the kitchen open with her backside.
I put the apron on and went to the bar to familiarize myself with the setup, hoping it would be a good night.
14
Sophie
Five o’clock never took so long to arrive for anyone. There were times when I looked at the clock in my classroom, and I could swear the time was standing still or moving backward. Every ten minutes felt like an hour as I tried to do whatever I could to occupy my mind. I must have straightened the bookcase in my room twice, I put up new posters, restocked my supplies, and even clapped the erasers even though they hadn’t been used for months. Finally, when it was about ten minutes to five, and I couldn’t take the waiting anymore, I packed up my belongings calmly, closed the classroom door and practically leaped into Mary’s classroom.
She was still sitting at her desk working on her lesson plans. I stood in the doorway and tapped my foot on the floor repeatedly, so it echoed up and down the empty halls. She took a sly glance over at me and placed her pen down on her desk. She slowly closed her laptop, stretched and yawned for a minute, and stacked and re-stacked at her papers until I groaned in frustration. She broke out into a big grin.
“Okay, let’s go,” she said as she rose from her desk chair.
I was giddy with excitement. We made our way down the hallway quickly, but as soon as we got close to the main office window, we slowed down and moved quietly passed. We didn’t want to arouse any attention from Kenny, who was surely still in the office passing the time shredding papers or sharpening pencils. I crept passed the window and spied him organizing something near the main desk, with his back to the window. Once I was passed, I waved Mary on to come towards me. She tore down the hall to get beyond the window as fast as possible. We then ran like schoolgirls, holding hands down the hallway, until we were outside.
Mary started to climb into her car and said to me, “Why don’t you ride with me? We can leave your car here.”
“What for?” I asked her, innocently.
Mary sighed at me. “Suppose Travis is there, you hit it off, and you end up going home together in his car. You don’t need a car there.”
I blushed at the thought of that. “That’s… that’s not likely to happen,” I said to her, trying not to feel too embarrassed.
“Of course not,” Mary said, rolling her eyes at me. “You’ve only been waiting for the guy for fourteen years. How silly of me. Okay, suppose you want to have a drink or two because you’re so nervous about meeting him. Sound more plausible to you, Ms. Ingram?”
As much as I didn’t drink, tonight might be a night where I needed some liquid courage to get through. I nodded at Mary and climbed into the passenger seat of her car.
In reality, we could have just walked to the Homestead if we wanted to from the school since nothing was too far to walk in Canon. Mary tore out of the parking lot and down the road as I held onto the dashboard.
“Try to get me there in one piece please,” I begged her as she took the right turn towards the restaurant rather sharply.
Mary shot me a look and smiled, and then slowed down to a crawl as we got closer to the restaurant, moving at a snail’s pace as she taunted me. When we arrived at the restaurant, she pulled into the parking lot and parked her car near the entrance. Mary sat and looked at me as she turned the car off.
“What?” I said to her, feeling self-conscious. I checked myself in the tiny mirror to see how I looked.
“You look fine, Sophie, don’t worry about it. I just hope he is in there. I want to see you happy.”
Mary leaned over and gave me a hug, squeezing me tight.
“Thanks, Mary,” I said softly to her.
“Now let’s go get that man for you,” she said, clapping her hands.
We both got out of the car, and we headed for the front door. Mary held the door open for me so I could enter first. I walked in and saw that there wasn’t much of a crowd in the place just yet, which was perfect for us. Mary joined me at the hostess podium, and within a moment, Maggie was greeting us.
“Well hello ladies,” she said with a big smile. “Twice in one day, Sophie? This is an occasion,” she said to me with a wink.
“You know how we love the food here, Maggie,” Mary said to her, elbowing me lightly.
“Glad to hear it, Mary,” Maggie said as she grabbed two menus. She led us over to a table in the far corner so we could get a clear look at the rest of the dining room.
“This table okay?” she asked us.
“Perfect,” I told her as I smiled back at her.
“You ladies enjoy your dinner,” Maggie said as she walked back towards the front of the restaurant.
There were just a couple of other tables taken so far tonight, but it wouldn’t be long before the place was filled on a Friday night. There were already a few people seated at the bar as well, enjoying their Friday evening, let’s-start-the-weekend-early drinks.
I tried to occupy my mind by looking at the menu, though I doubted anything on it was different from yesterday, or from when I had seen it this afternoon. I was actually starting to feel more nervous as the seconds ticked on, wondering if Travis would be here at all this evening.
A moment later, Patty was standing there in front of us to wait on us again.
“Hey, Ms. Ingram, Ms. Connors. I’m surprised to see you two here again tonight.” Patty smiled at us and held up her pad. “Can I get you something to drink?”
“Cosmo me, Patty,” Mary said proudly.
“You got it, Ms. Connors,” Patty replied with a giggle. “Lemonade for you, Ms. Ingram?”
“I’ll have… a glass of red wine, please,” I said to her. Mary beamed at me and nodded in agreement.
“Really?” Patty said, sounding genuinely surprised. I just glanced up her and nodded. “Okay, I’ll put them right in for you.”
Patty walked away, and I glanced around the restaurant again, hoping to catch a glimpse of him coming in. So far, I didn’t see any sign of him or his daughter, and I was starting to get nervous that maybe they weren’t going to show. A few more tables had been filled in just a few minutes that had passed.
Patty was back pretty quickly with our drinks. She placed the drinks down and asked if we were ready to order. Mary ordered her hamburger and fries, and I found myself ordering a Cobb salad.
Patty took the order and went off to the kitchen to put it in for us.
“Since when do you eat Cobb salad?” Mary asked me.
“I like Cobb salad,” I said to her defending my new favorite meal. “it has some great stuff in it.”
“Whatever you want Sophie,” Mary said to me. She raised her glass to me. “Here’s to a promising evening,” she said to me.
I raised my red wine glass to her as we clinked the glasses. Mary took a sip of her Cosmo while I downed half of my red wine.
“Whoa, easy there Sophie,” she said to
me. “You haven’t had a drink in a while; you don’t want yourself getting soused before he even walks through the door.”
I could feel the warmth down my throat and spreading to my toes already.
“I’m too nervous Mary,” I said to her as I took another gulp of wine. “What if he doesn’t show? Worse, what if he does and doesn’t remember me? Or even want to see me or talk to me? This is going to be a disaster.” Before I knew it, my wine glass was empty.
“Relax Sophie,” Mary said to me. “Everything is going to be fine. Just play it as it comes, without expectations.”
As I sat nervously fiddling with my fork, Maggie walked over to the table. Standing next to her was the beautiful red-haired girl with the green eyes. She stood nearly as tall as Maggie, had a big smile on her face, and wore a white blouse and black slacks, with a black apron around her. She was holding a small basket of dinner rolls in front of her.